Archive for April, 2009

The Boys of Ghost Town DVD and original soundtrack is now available. To quote cineveliz.com-
“The film has been released nation wide on DVD and Blu-Ray at video retail stores. And today, the film’s IMDB rating is up 14,698%, that is a record.”

The Boys of Ghost Town is a 2009 PabloVeliz film produced by Laguna Productions. The film was shot in Houston and stars Marian Zapico (The Hitman Chronicles) and Manuel Garcia with support from Luis Caldeira, Santiago Villalobos, Pedro Castaneda (recently nominated for best supporting actor at the Independent Spirit Awards), Jason Cox, Corando Martinez, and Danny Trejo (From Dusk till Dawn, Spy Kids, Desperado).

The film’s soundtrack consists of 23 original tracks including an Acoustic based song. The score includes Spanish Guitars with Violin and Viola solos – Classical Percussion – an approximate 30 piece String Orchestra – Electronic Pads and Synth Leads – an Upright Piano – Female Vocals by Sarah Odom – and eerie voice effects such as bending voices, “laughing” breaths, and rhythmic sounds. The score was written and recorded from December 2008 – January 2009 and consists of 23 tracks with 68 minutes of music. To read more about the soundtrack (including program notes and recording session photos), click here.

Somebody I’ve known for several years recently inspired me to start writing more news updates, including this one- so I apologize in advance for the length of this announcement as I’m not the best at keeping up with them.

SHORT FILM SCORES VOL. 1
Now on iTunes

The Short Film Scores Vol.1 was released on CD Baby in late 2008, and now it’s available on iTunes as well. The album consists of 12 different short film scores I wrote from 2002-2008, including the award-winning title for Best Film Score, “Truth be Told” scored for Andrew Bartel’s film, “Out of the Shadow” (featuring Clarinet performances by Jeanene Johnson) – sample here – and the award-nominated title for Best Film Score, “Flesh and Wire” from David Matheny’s film, “The Scientist” (featuring Vocal performances by Kris Swenson) – sample here. For more information on the album, click here.

GARRISON DVD
Domestic Release (Czech Republic artwork pictured)

Kerry Valderrama’s feature film, “Garrison”, has already been selling in many different overseas countries. The film has received many festival awards including an Honorable Mention in the 2008 Accolade Competition, and my humbling award for Best Impact of Music in a Feature Film from the Park City Film Music Festival. The film will be released in the U.S. at Blockbuster/Netflix on July 7th (pre-sale on June 9th). I was also one of the crew interviewed for the extra features for the upcoming U.S. release, and got a chance to see some of the other behind the scenes footage that’s being edited by Ronnie and Karen at Lucid Post. Interviews will also be done by the film’s visual effects supervisor and festival companion Josh Hurst at Liquid Logixx (1000 Ways to Die). The film stars Kerry Valderrama (won best Indie Auteur Award at the San Antonio Underground Film Festival), Elizabeth Ingalls (Star Trek XI), and James Barnes (winner of best supporting actor at the Hoboken International Film Festival). For more information, click here. For a sample of the score, click here.

THE BOYS OF GHOST TOWN
DVD Release and Premiere

Pablo Veliz’s feature film, “The Boys of Ghost Town”, just had it’s sold-out premiere and will be available at Blockbuster and Netflix on April 21st. I was able to attend the red carpet event this past weekend, and was even interviewed by a local TV station regarding the original music within the film (I was also one of the crew members interviewed for the extra features). Pablo invited all the cast/crew up onstage with him after the premiere (there was about 30+ of us up there), and singled me out with some of the other crew (including the writer/star of the film: Manuel Garcia) to speak at the event, which I consider to be such an honor. The film stars Marian Zapico (The Hitman Chronicles) and Manuel Garcia with support from Luis Caldeira, Santiago Villalobos, Pedro Castaneda (recently nominated for best supporting actor at the Independent Spirit Awards), Jason Cox, Corando Martinez, and Danny Trejo (From Dusk till Dawn, Spy Kids, Desperado). For more information on the film, click here. For a sample of the score, click here.

MY STEP-DAD’S A FREAKIN VAMPIRE!
DVD Release and Premiere

David Matheny’s feature film, “My Step-Dad’s a Freakin Vampire!“, is now in it’s final stages of completion and will be available online on May 23rd. The film has been a work-in-progress for quite awhile now, and I know the filmmakers will be happy to have this done and ready for release. The score is finished and the premiere will likely take place in the Kansas City area (where the film was shot). The filmmakers (David and Jenny) drove down for the score’s recording studio dates which included 10 other musicians (I’ll announce more on that later as the release date approaches). David shot some footage and interviewed me for the extra features too. The film stars Lahcen Anajjar, Larry Peterson, Brandon Martin, and John Redmond. For more information on the film, you can check out the website that I helped put together here. For a sample of the score, click here.

NIGHT CRAWLERS
DVD Release and Festival Screenings

Benjamin Wilbank’s feature film, “Night Crawlers”, screened at the Lonestar Film Festival (which I did attend), and recently to a nearly sold-out screening at the Oxford Film Festival (I wish I could of gone but was tied up with another score at the time). Prior to that, I was able to go to the film’s premiere at Four Day Weekend which included Q/A with the cast and crew. His co-company with Ron and Mike Gonzalez, Deadmen Productions, stays quite busy in the metroplex (and recently in Arizona too) shooting for various productions. They just moved to Studios 121 in Haltom City, which looks like a great place to work (Will from Studios 121 gave me the full tour). The film is now available online and stars Joel S. Greco (Cheaters, Mad Bad), Mathew Greer (No Country for Old Men, The Mist), Amanda Harris, Lee Trull, and Gabriel Horn. You can pick up a copy of the film here.For a sample of the score, click here.

CALHOUN’S SONG ON NBC’S “CHUCK”
The FW Weekly announced that one of Calhoun’s songs will air on NBC’s “Chuck” in April. The song that’s being used is one that I wrote/performed all the Piano and String parts for (Violins, Viola, Cello). The song was recorded with Grammy-winning engineer Stuart Sikes at Elmwood Recording Studios. Check out Calhoun’s site for some great tune-age here. A sample of the song is on my studio musician player, and the specific song is here.

AFI DALLASI recently attended some of the events at AFI Dallas, including the Music for Film Panel. I enjoyed hearing the stories from the panelists, the best ones belonging to a particular composer agent whom I’ve worked with a couple of times before (Linda Kordek). I was quite surprised when she called me out to respond to a question about composing for film that the other panelists (mostly music supervisors) couldn’t quite answer! If you ever see a panel with Linda on it, I highly recommend going and listening to some of the most interesting and entertaining stories about the industry you otherwise would never have known.

RECENTLY FINISHED SCORES
I finished up two scores recently, including one short film and one feature that has been a work-in-progress project. The films are:

Bruce Guido’s experimental film, “Switch”, which was shot in the deserts of California outside of Los Angeles. You can view the short on Bruce’s page here (I scored the film with just an electric guitar which can be heard here)

Robert Paschall Jr’s thriller/horror feature film, “The Locker”, which was shot entirely in the Dallas area. The film may be available on DVD soon. For more information, visit the film’s site here. For a sample of the score, click here.

LAST SHOWS
I played both Flickerstick‘s and Black Tie Dynasty‘s last shows these past couple months. They were some of the most emotional and bittersweet shows I’ve ever been a part of, and I’m so glad to have been lucky enough to share the stage with them. Definitely keep your eyes open for future projects from those guys.

ADDITIONAL NEWS
I recently saw Bryan Ortiz’s new feature film, “Dr. S Battles the Sex Crazed Reefer Zombies“, and Science will never be the same. The film stars Rick Carrillo who also has a role in “Garrison“. For more information, visit here: doctorsthemovie.com

E-MAILING LIST
I just started an e-mailing list that I only plan on using when I update this news blog. If you haven’t signed up already, and would like to subscribe, just type in your email address at the bottom of my contact page here.